Liquid Gold Dance Group Gallery And New Exhibit At Peale Museum

 

 By Gemma Cleanslate

 

Liquid Gold Dance Group has a lovely region for their activities. One of the buildings is a gallery owned by Lin Carlucci. October 2 I was invited to an opening for a good friend of mine, Beertje :. (Beertje Beaumont). I have known Beertje as a member of my Philosophy class for many years and also she is known for her beautiful fashion shop store, !!La Beaumonde ,where she has elegant gowns and jewelry on the Amsterdam Region. We also golf together most weeks.

I was unaware however what a marvelous real life artist she is. She has imported her real life art pieces into second life and are now on exhibit at Galley until January. Many of her pieces are done with texturing.

Several are hauntingly beautiful portraits from her work in real life. I was taken by her rendition of shore birds since I have been a birder for many years and will be putting them on my wall at home.

The reception was well attended and many friends were present . Her works are for sale at the gallery .Be sure to get her gift when you go. It is one of her jewelry sets, necklace, earrings, tiara for the ladies and a sweet carnation pin for the gents which I would certainly wear so I took it too. Here is the entrance. 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Only%20One/49/64/1501

Last week I went to a new exhibit at the Peale Museum that was very different. The Peale is a replica of the Peale Community Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. This exhibit by Leeboot is the very same exhibit they hosted recently in Baltimore and it has been imported to SL. Lee Boot is a painter and media artist. He is the Director of UMBC’s Imaging Research Center, and an affiliate Associate Professor in the Departments of Visual Arts and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. His background is extensive and it is all explained at this exhibit which will be there more or less permanently.

As he talked about his background and his various life experiences and how they affected his art I felt I was looking into his expression of the mind and brain. There are many metaphors in the surreal images. You will see as you follow the arrows that there are explanatory videos along the way to help you understand how the art came to be and perhaps some meanings one would never recognize until the video explains it all.

It reminded me of stream of consciousness writing transferred into art.

Although Lee has been an artist for many years his work now is dedicated to how art can affect and assist young people and assist them mentally. He became a researcher in. how to use media to further the arts, public policy, importance of culture and how it drives human behavior and impacts the world. The videos will help to explain it all much more fully. Here is the entrance with the opening video,

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Peale%20Museum/221/74/1418

 

Gemma Cleanslate

Andrea Jones' "Reflections of Darkness" Opens at National Museum of Caledon

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Sunday July 22, there was an opening party for a new exhibit at the National Museum of Caledon in the Caledon II sim : "Reflections of Darkness." As it turned out, while this was  Andrea Jones' exhibit, the artwork wasn't hers but rather the poetic verses tied to these dark (mostly) images of various artists. There was a notecard one could pick up at the entrance, as well as a sign on the wall, that explained how the exhibit came to be.

Welcome, Back in the early part of 2013 I was a heavy Facebook user and I was going through a rough time. I ended up spending several months where, as I came across different pictures posted on FB.  I saw stories in the pictures and crafted verses to go with them.

Some of the verses were a form of therapy and as such some are very dark. Some were written for friends on Fb and some as parts to their Wiccan pages. The verses are raw, placed here as they were originally posted so many years ago, good, bad, short or long. Many of the images here have the artists name on them. So credit is placed to them, the words are mine.

Due to the amount of material, It could take some time to go through so take your time. Enjoy.

Cynthia Farshore played the music for the event, which got some complements, "Thanks, trying to put in something for everyone." There were a couple songs from "The Phantom of the Opera," "Thriller," "Ghost Riders in the Sky," the theme music to "Ghostbusters," Ray Stevens' "Sittin Up With The Dead,""Monster Mash," and more.

People also complemented Amdrea for her verses, "... you did write some really good poetry to the pictures, Andrea." "It is true, Andrea, it is only having journeyed through loss and darkness that one truly appreciates the light." Talking to Andrea, she had a few things to say about the exhibit, "There are a few lighter pieces in the mix. The Facebook page was made for darkness though. A few friends are keeping it running. I only wrote for a few months."

Star (Astarynite Resident) is the owner of the museum. When I asked when the idea came about for the exhibit, she told me, "I think Andrea had three weeks to pull everything together." Andrea explained, "I stated importing the verses and pics from Facebook a couple of years ago. I built a museum to put them in, but did not finish pulling them all from outside Second Life. I spent  about three weeks, yes, finishing the material. Star's museum was already to go, so I did them for here. I have more material, but no pics to go with them. Wasn't really needed on the Facebook page"

When Cynthia started playing the theme music of "Dr. Who," that got Andrea thinking, "Hmmm, I had a piece about Dr. Who,. but I don't think I presented it. ... Ah, here it is. 'A Whovians Bad Night.'"

So I am a Whovian and sleep won't come
These rhymes these rhymes bounce off my ear drums.

Like the Master with the drum beat four
Drumming in my head with sledge hammer force

Beating and beating demanding release
Threatening to drive away my nights sleep

O Doctor O Doctor where have you gone
Inside the TARDIS is where peace will come

Inside the time nexus where time rages on
Sleep is possible because everything is gone

Here in the nexus the question is not asked
So silence can not fall like an axe.

Fixed time points must stay safe
So everything in time stays in place.

Alas the rhymes are at last fading
Like the wrath of a good man abating

So sleep is just around the corner
As the Vasta Nerada dances in my quarters

So asleep and dreaming must I be
Because Captain Jack just made a pass at me.

Another picture mentioned was "Sisters Mr. Spider."

Hello Mr Spider why are you there?
What are you doing on the wall over there?
Why are you hanging over fathers head?
He won't like it if he wakes and finds you there.

Mr. Spider why are you so large?
Do spiders grow that large in the yard?
Should father wake up he will try to take charge.
He will try to squish you for being so large.

Mother would probably let out a scream.
Awaking my brother who is pretty mean.
Mother would grab me and run until she ran out of steam.
Leaving father here to squish you to cream.

I think Mr. Spider you should come with me.
I was about to sit down with my dollies and have tea.
You can join us, as I have a cup already laid out for tea.
With as many arms you have, you can have as much as you need.

I think it would be best if we let them sleep.
Waking them now would cause a scene.
If you are hungry I have cookies with my tea with icing.
I think you will like them better than people sleeping.


One visitor commented, "I'm going to sleep with the lights on after seeing this spider over the bed picture." Andrea responded, "I have a spider human avatar, but it cleared the room last time I showed up in it. The DJ was frightened of spiders, she poofed. I left so she could come back." Cynthia commented, "While in the Nav,y a guy told me he was on the ship in his rack which are enclosed but for one side, he opened his eyes to see a spider about an inch and a half wide hanging right above his head which would have been only 8~12 inches." She soon played Jim Stafford's "Spiders and Snakes."

Another visitor commented, "The Great Beyond verse is my favorite so far!" This was a picture of a skeleton in an astronaut's suit. Andrea commented, "I was thinking of the early (Star Trek) Federation space flights when I wrote it, with a little 'Space Above and Beyond.'"

Space the Final Frontier
Where your corpse is preserved for all the years

In space no one can hear you scream
Outside your capsule all is quiet and serene

No more eyes, no more ears
Nothing left with for you to know fear

Through time and space you hurtle on
A silent witness to the great beyond

One picture looked like a big contrast with the others, a picture of puppies. What are puppies doing in a gallery full of ghoulish pictures? But a closer looked showed something wasn't quite right, especially with the title: "Demon Dogs."

We look so cute. But that is a disguise.
To see our true nature just look into our eyes

Still don't see what our disguises hide
Why you should run and hide

Come closer and we will show you why


Star has only had a few exhibits in the museum before this one, "Andrea's is my fifth show. I was hoping to have a miniature show of builders builds, but most builders it seems do not make small versions of their builds and many things in the build are already at their smallest size and can't be shrunk."

So what is Andrea planning next? She told me, "I'm working on a community build in the Steam Skye City region. The Island of the Circle. ... I'm trying to come up with a build for Burn 2 in October ... for the Caledon Oxbridge University October fundraiser." She would be doing a Halloween-themed build, "I'm going to build one big one like last year ... with maybe two dance areas."

As for Star's museum after Andrea's exhibit, "I will be looking for a show in September if anyone has photographs, writings, anything they would like to display for a month or so."

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20II/164/52/23

Bixyl Shuftan

Theater on the Hill

By Gemma Cleanslate

I go to shows at the Theater on the Hill (TOTH) often and enjoy them thoroughly. I usually arrive and enter the theater immediately about 15 minutes before the show begins to get a good seat for viewing and taking pictures for my articles. I rarely have looked outside but I find I should have. There is a lot more to the region than I ever knew.

The theater itself is very beautiful and built in the style of a classic domed temple that gleams in the sunlight. Beneath the Theater lobby there is a cabaret where events are also held.  The main theater overlooks two sims, Pure Luxury and Theater Stage. I saw the outdoor sunken theater and went over to check that out, then saw that the whole region was a beautiful area to walk. Along the paths I found some lovely real life  artwork by Taddeus Adagio set  on easels for sale. There are small buildings along the walkway which circles a large lake. Oliver Lake, with an island, Oliver Island with  an enclosed resting area with a small pond and fountain . As you cross the bridge to begin your walk you will find a hydrobike to take you out to the island.

I climbed a tower to get an over view of all. The foliage and trees are in late spring glory which adds to the experience of walking. Continuing along the walk way I came up a brick walled garden with another art piece fountain that is a memorial garden to some of those members of the TOTH that have passed. It is a place of serenity and meditation. 

I continued around and back to the theater sim and stopped there at a museum built in the style of the old west pueblo dating back to the original inhabitants of that area. It is named the Great Light Gallery and holds the photographic works of Immerdar Fredriksson where he reflects, “If one is patient with Grand Canyon; if one spends the time, eventually visual rewards--supreme moments for the landscape photographer--will surely present themselves. "Grand Canyon:  The Great Light" are these moments.” There are three floors of photographic images that are utterly marvelous. Walking through you will experience the feeling of being at the rim, in the canyon, and on the Colorado River. I went through three times I think just to get the feeling  over again.

In the area below the theater there is a shop with dashing clothes for gentlemen and formal gowns for women. Very lovely and I was tempted but resisted .. for now.

Next to that is a gallery called “Kids Art”  and behind it a workshop for those who wish to create works at scheduled workshops and who take field trips for inspiration and themes . It is run by Jeppe Violet. You can find out more about this gallery by visiting. Don’t miss the Scaled Orrery featuring the sun and planets.

All this I missed by just going into the theater! It pays to look around. Be sure to visit and take a walk. Some people fly everywhere in sl. I think they don’t know what they are missing. I have learned to take a long walk or a horse ride if the sim calls forthat. This slurl will take you outside the Theater and you can make your way from there. There is a lot to see. s

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pure%20Luxury/193/101/22

Gemma Cleanslate

Second Life Historical Museum

By Becky Shamen

In my explorations of Second Life, I have covered many millions of square meters of space. For this adventure, we will travel in time and go back to the beginning days, when all of SL amounted to a mere 16 sims. I found the Second Life Historical Museum in the Destination Guide. The guide described it as follows.

Learn about the origins of Second Life and see displays of historical artifacts, images, and notecards that have been instrumental in shaping SL. Wear a free, fully-customizable avatar of our Primitar "ancestors" and relive magic from the early days.

The "museum" is an open air monument and, by panning your cam, the entire thing can be viewed, without taking a single step. In mid-December of this year, I will celebrate my 4th Rezday in SL. I have often wondered why I didn't start when SL first came on line. Now, having viewed it's early history, I can see why. With a life time of experience in art and design, early SL, to me, looks like something made from Leggo Blocks.

 Looking at this early street scene, it seems, back then, builders were limited to using basic primitives, like cubes, spheres, cylinders and cones. They had sculpts then, but nobody was very good with them yet. Today, we have mesh objects. Mesh is great for clothes and for limited use in scenery. While mesh does allow sim owners to have many decorations, using fewer prims, the trade off is increased lag. There have been many times that I have gone to a sim that sounded interesting, only to turn around and leave, because excessive use of mesh kept the place from rezzing and my av from being able to move. I wonder if lag was as big a problem, 10 years ago.

Early avatars, called `Primitars' at the museum, by today's standards, were scary monsters. I think  I would rather be bald than wear a hair do like this one. Thank goodness for flexi-prims. In one picture, I saw a dozen avatars, all sitting on the ground, with exactly the same pose. Today, with countless pose and animation balls, AOs, and avatar physics, motion has become very realistic. One can only hope that, ten years ago, with stiff, ugly avatars, they hadn't invented sex yet. That would be too perverse, even for my adventurous tastes.
 

This is the first Halloween party, held in Second Life. We have just ended the Halloween season and been to a lot of, so called, scary parties. If I had been around for this first party, I think I would still be having nightmares from it.

The next time you find yourself cursing Linden Labs, because you are still a cloud, the scenery isn't rezzing, you are only getting 1 Frame Per Second, or you've crashed three times in the last hour, remember, it could be worse. It could be 2002 and the big yellow duck wants to dance with you and take you home to his nest.

Phobos (229/151/33)

Becky "Sha" Shamen

Virtual Museum of Architecture - Fall Build-Off

The Virtual Museum of Architecture (VMA) held its annual Fall Build-off on Builder’s Brewery, located at Builders Resource (111, 30, 22). Djinn Dasmijn was the Build-Off Coordinator. The theme was Art Deco, a style developed in the 1920’s and 30’s. During a whirlwind 48 hours, competitors designed, built, textured, and tweaked their creations. The aim of the competition was to see who could create the most functional and appealing Art Deco commercial building. There were two categories: Novice and Pro, for residents who had previously sold builds. When the building ended on Sunday, SL residents voted for their favorites.

Djinn Dasmijn stated, “I am impressed with the quality of builds our competitors come up with at each build-off.” There are two large competitions held each year, with a different theme each time. This was the first time the Art Deco theme had been used. Dasmijn said a small contest was held to select the best Art Deco trophy. Because the Build-Offs are so popular, Dasmijn may be adding smaller events throughout the year.

There were 21 competitors this year, 10 in the Pro category and 11 in the Novice. The variety and quality were amazing. Among the builds were restaurants, department stores, a theater, and even a dolphin sanctuary. Some of the builders created notecards about their inspiration or method of creating the piece, which I found very interesting. Camden McAndrews, for example, first built a 1:32 scale model of his structure.

One competitor, Darkforest Dean, took time out to talk about his build and allowed me to photograph him. He placed a radio that he had made inside his structure, and the radio served as the inspiration for his build. Another builder, Levi Ewing, built a tall, luxurious “Flag Ship” store to symbolize the richness of the 1920s and capture the mood of the carefree lifestyle people were experiencing then.

Morgan India created “The Hindenburg Club”, a sky harbor/bus station redesigned into a “high-class speakeasy”. India’s entertaining notecard explained the problems faced by executives of Dirigible-Omnibus Harbor, Inc. that resulted in this structure. India’s real inspiration for the build was a hangar at Lambert Field and by Art Deco icons, such as the Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA [1931], the Musical Hall in Kansas City [1932], and the Gold Ballroom of the Overlook Hotel.

A very unique design was the Mariposa Dolphin Sanctuary, built by Enoch Kips. This two-story structure had a second floor observation walk where you could watch the two rescued dolphins swim. Movies were well-represented in the competition, too. A great corner theater was built by Deo, while Simi Firehawk’s stucco, glass and gold structure included Casablanca posters and pictures of movie stars inside.

The end of the competition was celebrated by a dance DJ’d by Etoile in the exhibitor’s area. The Winners were announced at an Awards Gala on Monday, October 24th, from 7:00–9:00 PM SLT, on the competition sim.

The winners of VMA's Fall Build-off 2011 are:

Novice Category:

1st place: Jolie Serendipity, 2nd place: Arteer Oliva, 3rd place: 2Rottin Dean

Pro Category:

Tied for 1st place: Terra Tepper and Marcan Aridian , 2nd place: Hideo Inaka, 3rd place: Granelda Oh

People's Choice Awards:

Novice: Camden McAndrews, Professional: Granelda Oh

Grey Lupindo